The Better Part of Me

CHAPTER 10: I GOT THE FIRST CLUE

"Oh, right, I found them, write them down because I am going to have a meeting in Canada and I won't be back till Friday. 20C-18 is the number of the box where I keep all your report cards. I also found that 1412518 is the number of Phoenix Contact, and tell Xavier that I found the ISBN of The Rules of Life book, it's 23-1-19-8-9-14-7-20-15-14,"

What the hell is that? What is he saying? What is my father talking about? What the hell is all that? I asked him about the arranged marriage and now he is answering me with these numbers and things I know nothing about.

knock... knock...

"Come in, the door's unlocked"

"Jess?"

"Xavier? What are you doing?"

"We're heading home in 1 hour, we have to go to the airport."

"Okay. Xavier?"

"Yes?"

I grab the little piece of paper, "My dad told me to tell you that he found the ISBN of The Rules of Life book."

"What are you talking about? I own the book, the ISBN is written in the book. And why would I ask your dad to search for the ISBN... I can search it in my own," he frowns.

"I am confused.. he told me earlier to tell you this, along with other things I don't understand too."

"What other things? Can I see the paper?" I hand him the paper.

"Well he told me the number of the box where all my report cards are, and he also told me the number of the Phoenix Contact, lastly your ISBN. But it's weird because I didn't ask him about the report card and the contact and you didn't ask him about the ISBN."

"He's giving us a clue or a message," Xavier's face turns serious and a bit intimidating," I know it's late but do you want to come to my penthouse? I keep my books there, maybe we can search or look for... something?"

"Sure, but don't you have work tomorrow?"

"I am the boss, I can work from home," He smirks.

"Okay, sure."

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We finally arrive at his penthouse at 10 pm. Of course, it's large, I love the black color that covers most of the space, and it rhymes with the red fluffy carpet on the living room and the golden color that the lights bring, but most of all, the view... you can see the whole city from here. The city at night, the colorful lights, the streets, the cars, and the people, it's amazing.

"You're so lucky, you get to enjoy this view every night."

"Yeah, when I can't sleep, I usually come here to enjoy the view, it helps me clear my mind, but it also helps me think at the same time. One of the reasons why I bought this penthouse," he says nodding, "I am going to take a shower first, then we'll find out what your dad is trying to help us. Please, make yourself at home."

"Okay, take your time."

I look around his place, it's very clean and I don't know.. very manly? But most importantly, I love the smell. His smell. Seriously I need to know his perfume or his soap. I walk around, I open his fridge, I even open the oven just to see there's nothing in it, of course. Behind his, I am guessing, his workspace, is, I think, more than 100 books. He has all those great books from The Great Gatsby to Harry Potter, from The Hunger Games to Divergent. Oh and The Game of Thrones! I hate the eighth season, but I am still and will always be a big fan.

"What do we say to the Lord of Death?"

I turn around to see Xavier leaning onto his table, with his hair still wet, but the most disturbing, good kind of disturbance, is his white t-shirt. Maybe not disturbing but distracting. For my eyes, the white t-shirt perfectly fits him, but for the sake of my brain and heart-rate, he should buy a bigger one, cause I can practically see his abs.